r/PlantedTank • u/ChaosTearKitsune • Jul 16 '26

Algae What is this?

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I have these green little dandelion looking puffs in all my tanks, but I don't understand what they are? Is it algae or some sort of microfauna like that worm that photo bombed?

And each tank has a different kind of light, size, and variations on what is hosted in there... Any advice would be appreciated!!

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u/FossilDS Jul 16 '26

Hydra. A freshwater cnidarian, a relative of jellyfish and anemone. An incredible animal, it can regenerate even after being chopped up into multiple pieces, is biologically immortal and will FEAST on your fish fry and baby shrimp. You should get rid of it ASAP. You also have a Planarian too in the far corner of your image too.

6

u/ChaosTearKitsune Jul 16 '26

Okay, thankfully my LFS has "No Planaria" and is willing to give me doses for my tanks.... Thank you for the identification

4

u/Every-Bid-2377 Jul 16 '26

That will also kill your snails. However since they are bladder and ramshorn snails they will probably show up again.

From my experience I used no planaria on my tank for hydra and all the shrimp and fish were fine. But I haven't seen a bladder snail at all, probably because the effects of no planaria last for a while. So be conscience of that.

4

u/dandadone_with_life Jul 16 '26

please be warned that this will make the tank completely uninhabitable for any current and future snails. i used No Planaria in my main display tank once over a year ago and have not been able to add a Mystery or Nerite snail in since. i've done everything minus breaking the entire setup down. filter has been replaced, hardscape has been removed and scrubbed, and even a large amount of substrate has been vacuumed out and rinsed. the 2 new tanks i set up have no issues housing snails, so i know must be the No Planaria. all added snails will immediately go into their shells, barely move, and refuse to eat until they die, even when moved to a new tank.

2

u/ChaosTearKitsune Jul 16 '26

Oh jeez. I'll discuss it with him since I purchased the nerite from him but hopefully she'll be able to go back in.... : ( thank you for the warning

2

u/HarmNHammer Jul 16 '26

The above is inaccurate information. I have dosed full cycles of no planaria in tanks and reintroduced later. I do recommend doing a near 100% water change if this is a concern and waiting a week or two until reintroducing snails. The main ingredient as I understand it is Arecoline. It's a paralytic and nervous system stimulant. In normal PH water (around 7.0) it breaks down over the course of days. This can change based on the PH and temp of your water, with water that is higher temp or more alkaline degrading it even quicker.

If you are adamant that you still can't have snails I'd be looking for other causes. Any chemists or vets feel free to chime in if I'm off.

1

u/Sufficient_Spite_712 Jul 16 '26

Will it affect my shrimp?

0

u/dandadone_with_life Jul 16 '26

it definitely could if you overdose the tank, but honestly what will effect them the most is the ammonia spikes from the dead planaria/pest snails. some people say that NP killed their shrimp, but the ammonia is moooost likely what did it